REVIEW: ‘WildC.A.T.S,’ Issue #9

WildC.A.T.S #9 from DC Comics turns what so far has been Grifter’s half-joke of life into a many-layered corporate political thriller. Matthew Rosenberg thrives in this environment as series writer, with deft pencils from Danny Kim and Tom Derenick chewing up the panels. Elmer Santos paints them in a soft brightness with occasional aura, and Ferran Delgado lays down the lettering neatly (plus, kudos on the nifty bubbles when Void speaks). Grifter is on another Earth and has met this world’s Void when she reveals something new.

“This is a surprise,” she states at the start of this issue. Grifter has worked with a crew of rebels fighting this universe’s Marlowe to break into Halo and rescue this Void. However, Void is well aware that Grifter is from another Earth, and she has an idea of her own he doesn’t see coming. Their dialogue is quite good, including the talk about the weird particles that weaken Void. Grifter is, as usual, out of his element and forced to make drastic choices. Last month I said this jump to another dimension to learn things is already getting played out in the DCU. I still hold that thought, but here it’s looking like there was a point to it all. Whether Grifter can accept what it is, remains to be seen.

There are three acts in this issue, and the second continues the bulk of the team arguing with John Lynch, who wants them to help him take down Halo. It’s a lot of effective back and forth, with threats tossed in for effect. You get the feeling that this comic has become a political thriller with powers. Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea if that’s the route it goes down. Every team book needs a distinct angle, and corporate espionage/political suspense is looking good on the C.A.T.s right now. They’re paranoid, divided, and backed into a corner. Powers can’t solve their many woes. Oh, and then there’s the Court of Owls and Voodoo.

So happy Voodoo got to play a larger role in this issue, and the Court, too. I still feel like the team needs to come together and get this thing going finally. However, I did not expect Rosenberg to hit me with a trifecta of plots sporting great, tense, solid dialogue. We’re getting the team, albeit in stages. But they’re all after the same goal from variant angles. It’s been a unified team (sort of) all along. They just went off on side quests from the jump.

WildC.A.T.S #9 looks swell. The art by Kim and Derenick is sketchy in parts and lean in others. In the beginning, I saw lines like those of Erik Larson from way back and (early TMNT) Eric Canete. The scenes with Lynch offered a hint of Jim Aparo, straight-edged art out of a crime drama. Santos gives off some fun hues in the Void parts, then tones it back in the Lynch scene, and I dig the subtlety. Oh yes, you will get more of the Seven Soldiers in this issue. Fun stuff. Hoping Warblade wakes up from the cult soon, along with Maul.

This is a great action issue with some very hard choices for the team, and I love every juicy panel. Please snag this one and revel in the Checkmate-style madness of this current WildC.A.T.s run.

WildC.A.T.S #9 is available now wherever comics are sold.